ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays placed struggling closer Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list with nerve-related issues before Monday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Fairbanks has experienced numbness in his fingers at times over the past few years, and the problem flared up again on Saturday and Sunday.
“Felt like he had a little bit of a zinger in his hand just playing catch,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “Got treatment the entire day on Saturday. We were still optimistic that he was going to be good to go on Sunday, but it repeated itself Sunday before the game.”
Fairbanks has had tests on his shoulder and arm, with additional testing to be done.
“We’ll continue to kind of check boxes to see if we can narrow it down,” Cash said. “Not sure where it’s going to go, but felt like it was time to rest and run some imaging from his neck to shoulder all the way down to the fingers to see if we can see anything.”
Fairbanks has had a frustrating season, going 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in eight games. The right-hander has allowed eight runs — seven earned — over seven innings.
The Rays recalled reliever Kevin Kelly from Triple-A Durham to take Fairbanks’ spot on the roster.
Cash plans to fill the closer role by looking at matchups, with Colin Poche, Jason Adam, Shawn Armstrong and Garrett Cleavinger all expected to get chances.